Monday, March 12, 2018

Winter plein air paintings are exciting. And FAST! However, I have become progressively lazier when it comes to painting outdoors in the winter. It was a weird winter season in 2017-18, sometimes cool, sometimes cold, but almost always the days were mostly gray. No shadows and no heat equal no incentive to paint outdoors. It was an easy winter to do errands or take a ride, but without the contrasts created by my friend The Sun, painting a landscape like this took a backseat to studio work this year.

This is my 'go to' subject which is the woods behind the house. A brilliant sun after a light snowfall inspired me to set up inside at the dining room window. I've been watching these cut tree logs since the neighbor cut several trees (which are permanently preserved in many earlier paintings). They seem to change each day, each week, sometimes like they have moved themselves. Naked trees quietly surround them, like mourners for a friend. I worked with color to distinguish the slices, to give them dignity in their sad state. The brilliant shadows of hibernating wetland giants slowly passed across the field as I painted.

I can still see what was there a year or two ago, and wonder about the title. It's a lovely calm winter painting but to me it is a requiem for the fallen trunks.